Cardcaptor Sakura (カードキャプターさくら, Kādokyaputā Sakura?), also known as Card Captor Sakura (with the space) and often abbreviated as CCS, is a magical girl manga series from the well-known all-female artist team CLAMP. Cardcaptor Sakura is published in Japan by Kodansha and was serialized in Nakayoshi. The series consists of twelve volumes. It won the noted Seiun Award for best manga in 2001. The anime television series (1998-2000) based on the manga consists of 70 half-hour episodes (spread over three seasons), two theatrically released movies, and several specials. The second season of TV series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1999. Nelvana produced an English dub of the anime series, titled Cardcaptors, which aired in English-speaking countries.[1] An unedited English translation, bearing the original title, Cardcaptor Sakura, was broadcast in its English-language networks by the anime television network Animax. Cardcaptor Sakura has also been released in North America (but not the UK or Australia) on unedited and subtitled DVDs under its original title. As the series progresses, there is a pattern of foreshadowing and dreams that lead to an unusual conclusion. Like Magic Knight Rayearth, one of Clamp's previous works, Cardcaptor Sakura is a new twist on an old genre. Most of the characters in Cardcaptor Sakura also appear in one of Clamp's later manga series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, which has also been adapted into an anime. ~Plot~ The series begins as a simple girls' comic of the magical girl genre. Ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto opens a mysterious book in her father's study and accidentally lets loose the magical Clow Cards. By her ability to open the seal, Sakura is revealed to have special powers, and it becomes her responsibility to retrieve the missing cards. The task involves finding each card, battling its magical personification, and sealing it away. She is assisted by Cerberus (Kerberos, also known as Kero-chan), the Beast of the Seal assigned to protect the cards, who was asleep when Sakura opened the Clow Book (He was on a "nap" at the time, which lasted 30 years). Kero, who looks like an animated plush toy throughout most of the series (his "borrowed" form), guides Sakura as she develops her Cardcaptor powers. In the first episode, he presents her with the Key of the Seal, which allows her to fight and capture the Clow Cards.
